FAA Says It Will Keep ATC Meteorologists

The FAA says it will keep staff meteorologists at 21 air traffic control centers. A few days after the union representing the weather specialists issued a press release saying the agency planned to get rid of them in favor of automated systems, the agency said it wasn't so. "The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Weather Service will continue our long-standing partnership to provide weather services to ensure the safety of the National Airspace System," an FAA spokesperson told USA TODAY in a statement.

An earlier statement by the agency left the possibility of automating the service open. Placing NWS meteorologists at Air Route Traffic Control Centers was authorized by Congress in the early 1980s after a Southern Airways DC-9 lost both engines in a thunderstorm and made a forced landing on a road in Georgia. A total of 72 people, including nine on the ground, died and 20 survived. The NTSB said the crew was not warned of the dangerous weather.